Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX1 3PS, UK.
Nat Commun. 2021 Nov 26;12(1):6928. doi: 10.1038/s41467-021-27293-6.
The success of many viruses depends upon cooperative interactions between viral genomes. However, whenever cooperation occurs, there is the potential for 'cheats' to exploit that cooperation. We suggest that: (1) the biology of viruses makes viral cooperation particularly susceptible to cheating; (2) cheats are common across a wide range of viruses, including viral entities that are already well studied, such as defective interfering genomes, and satellite viruses. Consequently, the evolutionary theory of cheating could help us understand and manipulate viral dynamics, while viruses also offer new opportunities to study the evolution of cheating.
许多病毒的成功取决于病毒基因组之间的合作相互作用。然而，每当合作发生时，就有可能出现“骗子”来利用这种合作。我们认为：（1）病毒的生物学特性使得病毒合作特别容易受到欺骗；（2）骗子在广泛的病毒中很常见，包括已经得到充分研究的病毒实体，如缺陷干扰基因组和卫星病毒。因此，欺骗的进化理论可以帮助我们理解和操纵病毒动力学，而病毒也为研究欺骗的进化提供了新的机会。
